Latest revision as of 01:16, 6 April 2010

Weapons of Soulsteel

Liberty's Sacrament

Artifact •••

Soulsteel Daiklave

Speed +3 Accuracy +3 Damage +5L Defense +2 Requires: Strength •• Commitment: 5

Liberty's Sacrament is a long, graceful weapon with elegant design. It's blade is a deep, beautiful black, and it sounds mournful when it is wielded, the air weeping as it is cut by the sweeping blows of the blade. The blade was crafted from black ore found on a lost island of the labyrinth, alloyed with the souls of seventy seven suicide victims, and quenched in the blood of seven orphans.

What resulted was a fine weapon, if not a masterpiece, but it serves its deathknight well enough. Its power comes not from its use in battle, but its ability to sever its victims from the ties of life.

Any time an opponent is successfully struck by the blade, the wielder may, if he chooses, spend a single mote. If he does so, the blade does no damage. Instead, the wielder rolls the damage value of the blade (5) plus his Essence. His target resists with Compassion + Conviction (representing his love of life and his determination). If the target wins, he feels a cold chill as the blade passes through him, but is otherwise unaffected. If he loses, however, the Abyssal may subtract a number of dots from the targets backgrounds equal to the number of net successes that he rolled.

This power can affect any background, and the loss should be displayed in subtle manner. If resources are lost, there should be a sudden disaster that deprives the target of some of his money. If his ally background is lowered, former friends lose interest in him, or suddenly become busy. Most such events like this should be minor, and only last for a few days.

At the end of a short span of time (this amount is up to the ST, and should never be shorter than two days, nor longer than a week, and dependent upon the "situation" the blade caused), the target rolls essence. If he succeeds, the background loss is "healed" and returned. The ally begins to miss his companion, and returns. There is a sudden upturn in fortunes that restores the target's wealth. If he fails, however, the background loss is permanent, and can only be regained through roleplaying. Solars are smiled upon by their god in this regard, and the damage of this blade seldom holds them for long. Solars DOUBLE their essence for the purpose of this roll.

Any background can be affected, but in most cases, only those that provide a continuing benefit can be harmed. This cannot lower a Lunar's heartsblood and make him "forget" some shapes. It can be used upon Leige, and the Deathlord will lose interest in his minion (though woe be unto the wielder of Liberty's Sacrament if this should be discovered), but it will not reduce the target's stats acquired from the freebie points granted by Liege. This power CAN affect Dragon Blooded Breeding, as the magic of the sword corrupts the blood of the Dragon Blooded.

In the end, of course, the ST is the final arbiter on what Liberty's Sacrament can and cannot affect, and how the effects take place.

Howler in Madness

Artifact ••••

Soulsteel Daiklave

Speed +3 Accuracy +3 Damage +5L Defense +2 Requires: Strength •• Commitment 10

This blade appears strange to the eye. Though obviously a sword, it's organic hilt melds seemlessly with the hard, strange angles and planes of the blade that seem to twist the eye when gazed upon. The weapon, when unsheathed, whispers with voices of madness that scrap against the sanity of any mortal nearby.

The weapon was crafted of ore stolen from the nightmare of a Malfean, and fused with the souls of the insane. The secrets of its geometry were divined from the patterns of bird droppings and the hypnotic swirls of a whirlpool. The result was the Howler in Madness, a powerful weapon, but one its Deathlord creator is loath to use.

When unsheathed, the blade's whispers cause all mortals within 3 yards to lose 2 from all of their dicepools from the distracting whispers of the blade. But the whispers are heard the strongest in the mind of the wielder. With the force of a hammer, the blade assaults the psyche of the wielder, attempting to infect him with insanity. When the blade is first drawn, the wielder must roll willpower, difficulty 1. If he fails, he gains an "insanity" point, marked beneath his willpower, and he suffers a temporary derangement that lasts for the remainder of the scene. The derangement is up to the ST, but the most common is a berskerker frenzy. In this state, the wielder suffers no wound penalties, and cannot defend, only attack over and over again until he is slain or the haze of madness passes.

There is a power in insanity, and the wielder can unlock it to gain greater and greater power. When the blade is drawn, the wielder may increase his dex by up to four points. This dexterity bonus adds to anything that pertains in any way to combat: Attack dice pools, athletics, dodge, etc. But not dancing, or crafting. This bonus is not counted as natural, nor does it count against the dice cap limitation in any way. Each dot so gained increases the difficulty of the willpower roll by 1. Thus if the wielder adds 3 to his dex, his willpower roll is difficulty 4. If the wielder fails his willpower roll, he gains a number of "insanity points" equal to the amount he failed by (thus is it was difficulty 4, and the wielder rolled 2 successes, he gains 2 insanity points)

Insantiy has its costs, and when the wielder has more insanity points than his willpower, he loses all insanity points, one PERMANENT point of willpower, and gains a permanent derangement.

Frigid Bone Razor

Artifact •••

Soulsteel Daiklave

Speed +3 Accuracy +3 Damage +5L Defense +2 Requires Strength •• Commitment: 8

This weapon is long, with a militant, effecient appearance. It lacks the lusterous apperance of other daiklaves, with a practicality of design that seems almost exaggerated. It has, however, an almost delicate appearance, with patterns of frost embedded on the smooth, black surface of the weapon. The air around the weapon seems to crackle with the chill of the deep north, and the blade draws the morbid gaze of any warrior.

The weapon was crafted from ore gathered from the blood stained stones of a battlefield, mixed with the souls of common soldiers, each of whom had tasted blood of their own, and strengthed with far norther feathersteel. The result is a weapon of dire wisdom, and frosty, strength sapping power.

When the blade is drawn, the strength of all mortals within ten yards is sapped by the chill aura of the blade, slowing their movements. All mortals within ten yards are at -3 to initiative.

Further, the blade tastes the soul of its victims, and steals battlefield wisdom, offering it to the wielder. For each enemy killed in battle, the blade adds 1 die to a pool. This pool cannot exceed the wielders Intellegence + Presence, and represents a tactical wisdom offered by the blade. The wielder may, as he wishes, use any number of dice from the pool for any combat, or mass combat, related roll, wether it be adding to an attack roll, or to a presence check for tactical awareness. Once a die has been used, it is gone until another foe has been slain.

All dice offered by the blade are gone at the end of the scene, snuffed out and consumed when the blade is resheathed.

You never cease to amaze, Mailanka. Nice work. I especially like the last one, the Frigid Bone Razor. Damn, that's cool. :) I think the Howler In Madness should consider your essence. A powerful exalt ought to be more resistant than a lesser one. Maybe factor in permanent essence to the difficulty or the dice roll? Maybe an exalt can ignore up to Perm-essence insanity points, allowing them to delay the process? Maybe you lose them at a rate of you perm essence/day of not using the blade? Essence-rich beings seem to be tougher against pretty much everything, much better at maintaining both physical and mental status. Just a thought :) -- DaveFayram

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Weeeellll... perhaps. A willpower 10 Exalted already has a pretty solid advantage, and one could also point out that the great curse affects all Exalted irregardless of Essence (and wielding something stolen from the nightmare of a Malfean certainly must have SOME similarities to the effects of the Great Curse). In any case, the roll is pretty easy to pass, and very simply chosen, with little side effects (if you pass the check, you pay NOTHING for that +4 to dex), so it seems ok to me. But still, it might need some work.

I'm glad you liked the last one, though. I actually put the lost thought into it (the most into Howler). Just goes to show you that sometimes, simple is best.  :) ~Mailanka

Wow. Your weapons are all very cool! Jade, Orichalcum and Soulsteel! I'm glad to see someone that has the same philosophy as I do about the nature of artifacts! -- JadeSerpent